Re: Help with steps to cleaning your house after mold remediation

March 18, 2011

Were you, by any chance, at optimum health institute in San Diego?

>

> I'm getting very confused. We had a mold remediator clean up the basement,

remove contaminated materials, scrub, etc. I'm not too concerned about that

part. The issue is how to make the main floor of the house safe and livable.

We had a very high ERMI taken from the dust on bookshelves and in the crevices

under the floor registers for the heat. Thus, we know we have quite a bit of

mold DNA in our house dust.

>

> My husband, in his desire to make things safe for me as soon as possible,

decided to vacuum out the cold air returns in the HVAC today and that stirred up

a lot of dust and made me sick. So I'm trying to pull together guidelines for

him as he goes around the house cleaning everything. At first I thought he could

just clean out the heavy stuff with a HEPA vacuum, but the more I read, the more

it seems that one has to do each room as if it were a full remediation project.

Is this correct?

>

> Here's what I have so far:

>

> 1. containment (plastic on door into hallway, HVAC off, vents blocked with

plastic and tape)

> 2. negative air flow -- can we use a window fan to exhaust, or do we skip

this if we don't own a NAM or does that just spread the dust around more

> 3. remove all portable items -- maybe we do this first?

> 4. spray ShockWave (benzalkonium chloride solution our basement remediator

gave us) on wood furniture and wipe dry

> 5. dry wipe furniture with swiffers

> 6. discard all dusting cloths in plastic bags for disposal

> 7. spray aerosolver (www.aerosolver.com) - I learned there is a version of

this safe for people with MCS made with glycerol and borax

> 8. let dust settle overnight, then use HEPA vacuum on floor - what keeps the

dust from re-settling on the bookcases and dressers? or do we wipe them with

dry swiffer clothes again?

> 9. clean removed items with HEPA vacuum (books) or ShockWave spray (metal?

plastic? wood?)

> 10. discard upholstered objects and anything that can't be washed like foam

pillows

> 11. return cleaned objects to room

>

> So when do we clean out the HVAC furnaces and ducts? The mold remediator just

wanted to fog them with MDF 500 and I was afraid to have this stuff floating

around in the air. It doesn't make sense to turn on the heat and send spores

back into the room.... Yet if we do it before we clean the house, won't the

toxic dust circulate through the house again as we walk around and use things?

This is a BIG area of confusion.

>

> How do we decide on the order of the rooms? My husband also wonders whether

he should finish cleaning the basement before he works upstairs, where there is

dust settled on top of the ducts which was not removed by the remediator, who

worked only in the areas of visible mold in one corner and in the crawl space.

>

> I felt so great in San Diego for a week and did okay yesterday, but now with

the dust stirred up, my glands are aching, and my brain is fried, and I just

want to cry and run away to some safe place. If only I knew where!!!! HELP

>

> Janis

>

March 18, 2011

No

On Fri, Mar 18, 2011 at 9:47 AM, surellabaer <surellabaer@...> wrote:

>> Were you, by any chance, at optimum health institute in San Diego?

>

> >

> > I'm getting very confused. We had a mold remediator clean up the

> basement, remove contaminated materials, scrub, etc. I'm not too concerned

> about that part. The issue

March 18, 2011

Janis, I read on I believe on Dr Shoemakers site that many times after a house

has been remediated that we may be so hypersensitive that regardless of how

thoroughly its been cleaned it may not be enough and we may still have to move.

My g/f's house had mold in hvac coils and even though they were improperly

remediated and ultimately removed and replaced with new coils after 4 grueling

months I still had to move out and bounce from one contaminated hotel room to

another. Finally after 5 months and running out of money I moved back with her

and much to my surprise I dont feel nearly as bad as I did 5 months ago and it's

actually tolerable. I also open up the basement windows during the course of the

day which as you know helps air out the house which makes it even more tolerable

for me to live here.

Also, what I feel has helped me immensely is glutathione IV's within the first

week after my initial IV I felt a noticeable improvement in my over all health

Hopefully you'll have better luck than I did and will be able to make your house

safe enough to live in.

I lived in SD right off Via de la Valle, loved it there

Best of luck

>

> I'm getting very confused. We had a mold remediator clean up the basement,

remove contaminated materials, scrub, etc. I'm not too concerned about that

part. The issue is how to make the main floor of the house safe and livable.

We had a very high ERMI taken from the dust on bookshelves and in the crevices

under the floor registers for the heat. Thus, we know we have quite a bit of

mold DNA in our house dust.

>

March 18, 2011

Thanks Tug slug---

Your experience helps me to feel comfortable deciding not to run off

someplace when we really don't have a safe place to go....

I'm sure they are out there, but where?

Janis

Visit my blog Search for the Cure: My Healing Journey

http://www.cfsmethylation.blogspot.com

On Fri, Mar 18, 2011 at 4:10 PM, Tug <tug_slug@...> wrote:

>

> Janis, I read on I believe on Dr Shoemakers site that many times after a

> house has been remediated that we may be so hypersensitive that regardless

> of how thoroughly its been cleaned it may not be enough and we may still

> have to move. My g/f's house had mold in hvac coils and even though they

> were improperly remediated and ultimately removed and replaced with new

> coils after 4 grueling months I still had to move out and bounce from one

> contaminated hotel room to another. Finally after 5 months and running out

> of money I moved back with her and much to my surprise I dont feel nearly as

> bad as I did 5 months ago and it's actually tolerable. I also open up the

> basement windows during the course of the day which as you know helps air

> out the house which makes it even more tolerable for me to live here.

>

> Also, what I feel has helped me immensely is glutathione IV's within the

> first week after my initial IV I felt a noticeable improvement in my over

> all health

>

> Hopefully you'll have better luck than I did and will be able to make your

> house safe enough to live in.

>

> I lived in SD right off Via de la Valle, loved it there

>

> Best of luck

>

> >

> > I'm getting very confused. We had a mold remediator clean up the

> basement, remove contaminated materials, scrub, etc. I'm not too concerned

> about that part. The issue is how to make the main floor of the house safe

> and livable. We had a very high ERMI taken from the dust on bookshelves and

> in the crevices under the floor registers for the heat. Thus, we know we

> have quite a bit of mold DNA in our house dust.

> >

>

March 22, 2011

This is great to hear, Tug!!

Robin

>

> Janis, I read on I believe on Dr Shoemakers site that many times after a house